I Like the Way You Move

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I like the way you Move

State Standards:

GSE PS3 (7-8)-8 - Motion

Students demonstrate an understanding of motion by…
  • 8a measuring distance and time for a moving object and using those values as well as the relationship s=d/t to calculate speed and graphically represent the data.

National Standards:

Context of Lesson:

This is the opening lesson to the unit on Motion. It is important to start the unit on Motion by addressing the key concepts above because it provides a background on measuring motion. We will start by briefly reviewing the idea of motion by having students answer a warm-up question, which will activate prior knowledge, serve as a review, and allow misconceptions to be addressed. We will then look at frame of reference, displacement, position, and distance, first by playing with cars, and then through a graphic organizer. The car demonstrations provide a real look into the idea of displacement, and how motion is measured, which allows students to work hands-on with these concepts opposed to simply reading about them. Students will also complete the graphic organizer, “Road Race”, which will give them a visual opportunity to further comprehend the idea of displacement and analyze motion.

Opportunities to Learn:

Depth of Knowledge

  • Webb Level One
    • Conduct basic mathematical calculations
    • Label locations on a map
    • Represent in words or diagrams a scientific concept or relationship
    • Measure length
  • Webb Level Two
    • Identify and summarize the major events
    • Identify patterns in behavior
    • Organize, represent and interpret data
  • Webb Level Three
    • Support ideas with details and examples


Prerequisite Knowledge

  • Using data to develop scientific conclusions and explanations
  • Metric system/conversions

Plans for Differentiating Instruction

  • Questions will be adjusted as needed. Higher level questions will be added to the road races sheet for students who can handle them, or want to be challenged.
  • Students will be grouped as to succeed in performing the “playing with toy cars” demonstration. Peer-teachers will be provided for students who require the extra help/explanation.
  • The complexity of the diagrams for the Road Races will be differentiated by having students who excel will not be given initial and final positions, while students who have more difficulties will be given the initial and final positions.

Accommodations and modifications

  • Those that need more time, will be given less races to interpret on the Road Races sheet.
  • Those that need verbal explanations of the worksheets, will be given personal instruction and prompting.

Environmental factors

  • Desks are arranged in groups of four
  • Whole class opening and discussions
  • Groups for “Playing with toy cars”
  • Desks turns to pairs for “Road Races”
  • Whole class closing and discussions

Materials


Objectives:

  • Students will conduct investigations to:
    • Produce motion using toy cars
    • Measure distance in standard metric units
    • Calculate distance using the equation d=x2- x1
  • Students will build explanations to:
    • Describe the objects motion in terms of change in position
    • Explain how to use a reference point to measure the distance moved by an object
  • Students will recall and identify
    • motion
    • position
    • distance
    • displacement
    • frame of reference

Instruction:

Opening:

  1. As students enter the room, the warm up with be written on the board - “What key elements do you need to describe where something is and how it is moving?”
  2. As students finish the warm up, have them share what they wrote. (There is no right answer, as students have not yet been introduced to the concepts of this unit. This is to see what they already know and what misconceptions they may have.)
  3. Segue: We will be learning about Motion today. We will learn how to measure and describe motion. (go over the day's activities, which are written on the board prior to the class).
  4. “How do we describe motion? Why should we study motion?” (So that we can say, not only that something moved, but how it moved. Motion is an everyday experience and we should know how it works.)

Engagement:

Part one: Playing with toy cars

  1. "If you had to describe your current location, how would you do it?"
  2. Teacher will use answers to define the following terms.
  3. "In order to understand motion, we must first be able to describe where the object is." (refer to answers from opening warm up)
  4. Define: Frame of reference. Use toy cars to demonstrate different frames of reference around the room. (students do not have their own toy cars yet)
  5. Define: Position. Use toy cars to demonstrate.
  6. Define: Motion. Use toy cars to demonstrate a change in position.
  7. Define: Displacement. Use toy cars to measure the change in position.
  8. Define: Distance: Measure distance using toy cars.
  9. Give students toy cars, and Motion Graphic organizer. Students are in groups of four, and will work on this together
  10. Teacher walks around the room to assist and prompt students. "How do you know that is the frame of reference? What clues did you use to determine this? Why did you choose the positions you did?" Teacher will look for participation among all students, and answering all questions on the worksheet.
  11. Discuss as a class - "Is there one right answer to the exercies? Why?" "How can you remember the difference between distance and displacement?"

Part two: Road Races

  1. Introduce the Road Races Worksheet, (Cover the following points)
  • This sheet shows pictures of the starting and ending positions for two races.
  • The number line between the pictures of the starting and ending positions is in kilometers.
  • In race 1, places are provided for writing the values of Xi and Xf. You may want to do the ` same thing for the other races.
  1. Give the students the worksheet and break up the groups. Students will work on this in pairs.
  2. Teacher walks around the room to assist and prompt students. Teacher looks for evidence of thought processes- that students are making final and initial positions and showing their work. "Can you tell which one went furthest just by looking at the end position? Why?"

Closure:
  1. Give the students a 5 minutes warning with 15 minutes to go in class. With ten minutes left bring the class back together.
  2. Briefly review displacement and distance. "What can you think of to remember these differences?"
  3. Discuss answers to the Road Races worksheet.
  4. Revisit warm up question. (Have students answer using the terms we used in class).
  5. Give students reading for homework.

Assessment:

  1. Formative assessment of student answers to the warm-up.
  2. Formative assessment of students completion of graphic organizer.
  3. Completed “Road Races” worksheet.

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